2014 Draft Prep: Auction strategies

When I was working as a research assistant on Sam Walker's book Fantasyland more than a decade ago, I was tasked with calling Long Island strippers to see if they'd help us out with a plan we concocted to rattle the room of experts in our Tout Wars auction.

The idea was to have my "girlfriend" (the stripper) come into the draft room during the first couple rounds of the auction in nothing but a towel, saying she had lost our key. As I handed it to her, the towel would accidentally slip off and she would giggle and run out -- taking the most circuitous route possible -- leaving nothing but a hotel towel and memories. Our hope? That this would cause enough of a distraction in the all-male group to allow Sam and I to continue bidding over the next few rounds, unfazed, while everyone else, theoretically, played the scene over and over in their heads.

Those of you who read the book know this never actually happened.

Despite several agencies enthusiastically agreeing to the plan, we jettisoned the idea for a more PG-themed version, having Sam's wife's friend serve as a videographer for the first few rounds. We encouraged her to flirt. We kind of think it may have worked.

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But the point of the whole exercise was to stymie the room however we could. Auctions are long, grueling events. The monotonous call of "going once…going twice…" interrupted only by an occasional bid, can wear a Fantasy owner down. You aren't really eating, you're taking the occasional gulp of water, your eyes are glued to lists of players or a flickering computer screen on the table in front of you. And you have to sit there and twiddle your thumbs as other owners bid for players you have no interest in.

Any kind of distraction, cutting through the boredom, is amplified. And it tends to stick in your mind. Sometimes, that naked women running out of a conference room at the hotel pops back up when you're trying to figure out if you should go the extra dollar on Sidney Ponson.

I'm not certain the stripper ruse would have worked, but with us fighting for any kind of advantage in a room full of hyper-prepared Fantasy gurus, it made perfect sense. Not every auction strategy has to be a $200/hour extravaganza, however. Sometimes, all it takes is a well-placed "nice buy, friend!" after missing out on a player you didn't want in the first place.

Remember, you have no friends at this table

The people you are auctioning with are out for blood. They may compliment your good purchases, but it's just to get inside your head, or out of some sense of petty jealousy. You have no friends at this auction table. You may be in a league with your best man, boss and father-in-law. It doesn't mean you have to let one of them win Mat Latos because they're from Cincinnati and really want him. You want to be a good friend? Teach them about capitalism by burying their bids (until you reach your projection price, at least). Or buy them a Latos card on Ebay after the auction. But five months after this draft, do you really want Latos being the difference between being in fourth and first -- and not being on your team?

Buy everyone pizza ... because they're all your best friends!

Or bring bags of chips, or a case of beer, or make cookies. Just do some kind of good-hearted gesture that will make them all like you a little bit more. Because that may take out the weak links in the league when you really want a player. You may lock horns with Andy from work on a Jedd Gyorko bid, and some little voice in the back of his head, when he's reaching that area where he may or may not think it's worth it to bid the extra dollar, will remind him that you bought everyone beer, and he'll lay off the bidding. He may even throw out the old, "You bought beer. You can have Gyorko! I didn't want him anyway." And just like that, you have Gyorko at a $2 discount. And if you don't think this happens, you haven't done enough auctions.

Stay out of the chat room

As fun as it may be to joke with your friends in the chat room -- clicking on YouTube links, complaining about your cell phone, making fun of John for buying all those Gloria Estefan albums through high school -- it's going to take you out of the auction, and open up a world of diversions you don't need. Lock yourself into the bidding action. Let nothing else get inside your head. There's no reason to get caught up in chatting with everyone during an auction, especially when a thing called Facebook exists. You know that guy in the league who is mysteriously absent from the chat room and seems totally locked in with his bidding? That should be you.

Bring props

You will go down in history as the most annoying person ever, but if you do something like bring a bike horn with you, and honk it after what you think are good buys, you'll create a pretty awesome vibe (for yourself) in the draft. And you don't even have to believe these are good or bad buys. Just honk it randomly after players are awarded. You will control the room. People love to be judged. And to get instant feedback -- even if it's from an idiot with a bike horn at a Fantasy Baseball auction -- will touch that subversive nerve of wanting to be accepted. When owners are sitting there with a lot of money, someone may bid a couple extra dollars to get the honk for a good pick. And when you don't honk it, maybe your fellow owners will feel insulted, or spend the next round wondering what they did wrong. Keep this in mind, though: you're an idiot. You will have to play this role. But bringing props into the auction is weirdly thought out enough to provide a legitimate distraction.

Don't jump bid

Some people think it shocks the room! when you introduce a player at $20, or jump from $15 to 32 with one bid, but with draft prep and technology being what it is, that's no longer the case. All it does is eliminate the chance for you to buy a player at a lower price. That $32 player you just bought could have gone for $27. But you'll never know, because you wanted to be cool and do a jump bid.

Get your bid in before "Going Twice"

Several times in every auction, someone waits until the very last second to throw a bid in, stumbling over the auctioneer's "Gone!" and causing everyone at the table to nervously look at each other and question whether or not the bid should be allowed. It usually is, and everyone -- especially the guy who you just outbid -- will hate you for it. Because the auction is an exercise in group dynamics, you may pay the price for the late-coming bids on players. And you also look kind of weak and indecisive, which will hurt your standing at the table. If you want a player, get your bid out there early in the auctioneer's cadence. It's a strong way of telling everyone you aren't going to back down from this player, so they shouldn't bother bidding him up. And if they do -- thinking they're funny, or trying to show they can go toe-to-toe with you -- drop out of the bidding suddenly when the player is going over your projected value, and stick the other owner with him. Do it once, and do it early, and you won't get many challengers trying to price-enforce your bids again.

Mock yourself silly

Get in as many practice auctions as possible online. This isn't going to help you figure out prices, because they'll fluctuate wildly from auction to auction, but you can tool around and see what happens if you go $50 on Mike Trout, or try to build a staff with all $6 pitchers. Make this link your best friend. It takes you to our mock auction lobby. Jump in one and start experimenting with strategies.

Auctions are kind of fun, at the end of the day. If your idea of fun is a six-hour long psychological guessing game. But it's definitely the best way to play the game, and is probably the truest reflection of skill in assembling a team (you control your own fate and start at the same point as everyone else). And while throwing some curveballs into the auction room -- curveballs you control -- seem a little goofy at first, auction pros know that even the slightest advantage can lead to a player landing on your roster at a favorable discount.

Stay in touch with the most passionate Fantasy staff in the business by following us on Twitter @CBSFantasyBB or Nando at @NandoCBS.

(12:34 pm ET)Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said Tuesday that while Brett Cecil has the ability to close, he might not serve as the team's closer, the National Post reports.

"He could do it. He might not. It might be somebody else," Gibbons said.

The manager also raised the possibility of using multiple closers.

"It could be one of those deals where one night he might be closing, the other night he might have to come in at the end of the seventh or eighth inning," Gibbons said.

Despite the face that Gibbons hasn't deemed Cecil his closer, he did praise his pitching ability Tuesday.

"He’s got some overpowering stuff," Gibbons said. "He’s a lefty and I don’t think there’s a better curveball out there. He can throw it for strikes, he can bring it down low in the zone and bounce it for a strikeout. That’s kind of his go-to pitch. He doesn’t rattle. He’s pretty confident and calm when he’s out there."

Cecil went 2-3 with a 2.70 ERA, 76:27 K:BB ratio and five saves in 53 1/3 innings in 2014. He owns a 11.1 career K/9 rate in relief.

(12:23 pm ET)White Sox catcher Geovany Soto said he is feeling good after being limited to 78 games the last two seasons due to injuries. He missed time in 2014 because of arthroscopic surgery on his left foot and a torn meniscus in his right knee.

"I love where I'm at," Soto said, per The Chicago Tribune. "My legs feel great. My whole body feels great. I'm just anxious to get started and show these guys what I can do, hopefully stay healthy and break camp."

Ryu is dealing with a back injury, but has been throwing the last couple of days without pain. At this point, Ryu remains without a timetable for his first spring game. He went 14-7 in 2014 with a 3.38 ERA and 139 strikeouts in 152 innings pitched last season.

(12:15 pm ET)Astros manager A.J. Hinch indicated that the team is likely to use a seven-man bullpen this season, leaving two spots open for competition this spring, the Houston Chronicle reports.

"Likely," Hinch said of a seven-man bullpen. "There’s always a chance that (changes) depending on how the schedule plays out, and there’s always a debate on how many pitchers to carry during interleague. Now interleague is pretty much year round, so I mean, in a perfect world with our roster, it’s likely to carry a seven-man ‘pen. If we feel like we need an extra pitcher or injury happens, there’s different ways to shape our roster, then we will, but likely 12."

The two open spots will likely be filled by a left-handed pitcher and a long reliever. The competition for the second lefty in the pen likely comes down to Kevin Chapman and nonroster invitees Joe Thatcher and Darin Downs. The long relief role has a broader list of candidates, including Alex White and Asher Wojciechowski, who will prepare both as starters and relievers.

"We’re going to stretch out a lot of our guys," Hinch said. "Some of them are because they’re competing in that fifth starter spot, some of them are bullpen guys. Will Harris is going to throw multiple innings. Obviously (Sam) Deduno has been a starter in the past, he’s in a competition for the fifth man spot. Wojo, White, those guys are going to need to, going to plan for the season on both fronts, whether it’s a starter or reliever. But we’re preaching multiple innings. It’s important if you have a seven-man bullpen that you have a couple of guys that can get four, five, six outs if needed and be a bridge to the rest of the bullpen."

Rangers' Tolleson: 'I'd like to be that bridge' between starters, closersby Igor Mello | CBSSports.com

(12:10 pm ET)The Nationals are faced with a tough decision when it comes to outfield prospect Michael Taylor, who appears to be on the cusp of being ready for a regular role at the major-league level.

A major issue is playing time since the Nationals have a starting outfield of Jayson Werth, Bryce Harper and Denard Span. Taylor would be a solid fourth outfielder, but having him coming off the bench is not ideal for his development.

“It’s the same age-old decision that must be made regarding guys that are just on the cusp of being big-league ready and everyday players,” manager Matt Williams said, per NatsInsider.com. “And a question of depth on your team, too. … It’s a question of depth on your team, it’s a question of how much playing time they’re really going to get, and are they better served staying in the minor leagues and getting those at-bats until their opportunity arises. But Mike’s close. He’s really close.”

(12:06 pm ET)Nationals pitcher Aaron Barrett worked on strengthening his shoulder and legs in the offseason to improve his longevity throughout the entire season. Barrett admitted he wasn't used to a full major-league schedule, which contributed to him feeling "tired" in the middle of his rookie season.

"I'm ready for a full season," Barrett said. "Last year was a long season for me. It was my first year up. I had a lot of appearances, a lot of warm-ups and stuff like that. I think that is part of the process of coming up and working on that. I did as much training as I possibly could for this year."

(12:06 pm ET)Rockies infielder Daniel Descalso is ready to fill the role of versatile veteran who can play second base, third base or shortstop as needed, the Denver Post reports.

"I'll be ready for whatever comes my way," Descalso said Monday. "It's been a while since I've played just one position for any length of time, so I've worked hard to reach a comfort level at all three spots. I have an idea of what it takes to stay sharp."

Another factor that piqued the interest of the Rockies this offseason was his postseason experience, as he has played in 44 postseason games and won one championship.

"All of that factored in quite a bit," manager Walt Weiss said. "I think we sometimes underestimate the value of that — guys that have played in big games, pennant races, and have won a World Series. Those types of players are valuable, and that's a big reason why we brought Danny in here."

Descalso has made 110 starts at second base, 91 at third base and 88 at shortstop in his five-year career, seeing at least 100 appearances at all three poitions. He hit .242/.333/.311 in 161 at-bats last year with the Cardinals.